Democratic Town Chairman to Mayor Maturo: “Resign Now”

EAST HAVEN, CT - The Democratic Town Chairman in East Haven Friday, at a press conference on Town Hall steps, called on Mayor Joseph Maturo to resign in the wake of a sex harassment lawsuit against Maturo being settled this week in which the town will pay an ex employee $175,000 and medical benefits for her and her husband for life.

“I am asking Mayor Maturo to resign,” said Marc Conte, Sr. “Sexual harassment is wrong. It has no place in our society and our workplaces.”

Conte said he would filing an Freedom of Information request for all bills related to the settlement. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if the taxpayers wind up paying $500,000 or more for the settlement when all the bills are totaled, including legal fees.

“You (Maturo) need to go quickly,” Conte said. “And you should pay for the settlement with your retirement funds.”

Conte said that Maturo has a “leadership style of intimidation, bullying and Joe first.”

Councilman Nick Palladino too, said, that Maturo and not the taxpayers should be responsible for the settlement.

“He was the one who harassed her (Carbone),” Palladino said. “Not the town.”

Maturo responded to Conte’s words with his own statement, which said in part:

“The Town has not suffered an adverse judgment and I have done absolutely nothing wrong. Quite oppositely, I have sought only to safeguard the Town in the best ways I know possible from both embarrassment and financial liability,” said Maturo. “Despite Mr. Conte's partisan antics, there is no basis, in law or in logic, to demand my resignation or that I bear the burden of attorney’s fees associated with any of Mrs. Carbone's actions against the Town.”

About three dozen people attended the press conference. Above the press conference many East Haven Town Hall workers watched the proceedings from their office windows.

Also in attendance at Friday’s press conference was Francine Carbone, the ex employee who filed the suit against Maturo.

In 2015, former Town Hall secretary Carbone filed a lawsuit, claiming she faced a continual pattern of harassment from Maturo, including inappropriate remarks and obscene gestures, since her employment began in January 1997. During one incident in 2013, Carbone claims Maturo exposed himself in her office.

From Jan. 25, 1997, to Oct. 17, 2014, Carbone was employed by the town. In October of 2014 she was fired.
According to the lawsuit, Maturo continually made comments regarding Carbone's body.

The complaint also alleges that Maturo grabbed his crotch in front of Carbone and in front of a town official.

The incident that Carbone first made involved Maturo allegedly exposing himself to her while she bent down to file documents in a cabinet. Carbone alleges that Maturo's behavior made her working conditions "intolerable," causing "severe emotional distress.

Carbone also filed a Family Medical Leave Act lawsuit, alleging the Maturo administration retaliated against her for taking medical leave.

She lost that case.

On Friday, a second East Haven resident told Patch that she, too, had continually been sexually harassed by Maturo.

Roxanne Melillo, who ran on a ticket with Maturo in 2011, said she was continually harassed by Maturo.

Photos by Jack Kramer